New Mexico Bus Accident Attorney

Common Factors Behind New Mexico Bus Accidents

The New Mexico Department of Transportation reported that 377 bus accidents occur here yearly. The data suggests that roughly 1 in 3 bus accidents are fatal. Buses are commonly used for community transportation and for students. About 25 million children ride the bus to school nationwide, and many of these deaths are caused by school bus accidents annually.

Survivors of bus accidents are likely to experience major injuries. Research shows that 63,000 buses are involved in an accident each year—leading to 14,000 injuries and more than 300 fatalities. Virtually every factor that contributes to a bus accident is preventable, from training drivers adequately to enforcing safe hiring practices. 

In short, most bus accident injuries would not happen if companies exercised safety.

Accident factors included the following causes:

• Inadequately-trained drivers
• Negligent bus drivers
• Bus drivers under the influence
• Lack of safety restraints
• Traffic violations
• Improperly maintained buses

Maintenance issues are often ignored by bus companies to deepen profits. However, bus maintenance is a major public safety issue. Since buses are large, they subject their brakes to tremendous pressure and must be frequently examined to ensure they won’t fail. On top of that, private bus companies typically load their vehicles as heavily as possible to maximize the return on each route. When maintenance is ignored, an overloaded or crowded bus can lead to bus accidents and injuries.

Most Common Serious Bus Accident Injuries

One of the reasons bus accidents cause severe injuries is the lack of safety equipment. It is common for buses not to have seat belts—despite nationwide laws that require passengers to wear seatbelts in virtually every other vehicle. Not only do the majority of buses not have seatbelts, but their roofs and windows also lack adequate protection. When a bus is involved in an accident, it is likely for top-heavy vehicles like a bus to flip on the road. With the lack of roof and window protection, it is likely that this can increase the severity of passenger injuries.

Bus accidents often cause catastrophic injuries like:

• Burn injury
• Orthopedic injuries
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Neurological injuries
• Neck and back injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Blunt force trauma

Call Our New Mexico Bus Accident Lawyers Today: (888) 493-1629

Many buses are operated by government entities, making it difficult to recover from the damages after an accident. Even if you have been injured on a privately-owned bus, filing an accident claim is more difficult than a normal car accident. For these reasons, it is important to file a bus complaint within days of the incident. Action must be taken to preserve a claim against the responsible party.

Arnold & Itkin has successfully recovered more than $15 billion in verdicts and settlements, and we know what it takes to successfully help you do the same. We are here to do everything we can to help you recover what you've lost. When we take a case, we cover the expense upfront from start to finish, allowing our clients to focus on getting better. Now is the time to involve our Albuquerque bus accident lawyers. 

Call (888) 493-1629 or contact us online for a free consultation—you deserve to know your options.